[jds63]

Come here for friend,ask about problem she is having with AOL 9.6 OR 9.7.Running on Windows Vista,says her problem is when she is on she gets blank windows on screen and it freezes up on here,only resolution is to reboot or sign off AOL and sign back on,saw other issues about this problem tried help her with,which were a result of some windows having black spots,with another i know,was resolved by upgrading a chip driver,but did not resolve hers as we tried this upgrade,saw other issues due to Windows 7 and AOL also,but she has Windows Vista,that pertained to blank window boxes with just close X on it,hers is basically says windows goes blank and or freezes.Told her to try to reinstall AOL.If know any other help or resolve,please let me know,ty.

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I didn't think anyone used AOL anymore! It has turned from one of the world's largest to one of the smallest providers out there.

How does she connect to AOL? By dial-up or broadband (cable/DSL)? Unless there is some compelling reason to be on AOL (besides that's what they been using for the last 15 - 20 years), it is most likely she does not technically need it. If she accesses AOL via cable or DSL, she can go with a regular browser and email program.

With that, I have not even seen AOL in over 5 years but a quick Google search came up with this: Blank screen after signing on using the AOL software.

saw other issues about this problem tried help her with,which were a result of some windows having black spots,with another i know,was resolved by upgrading a chip driver,but did not resolve hers as we tried this upgrade,saw other issues due to Windows 7 and AOL also,but she has Windows Vista,that pertained to blank window boxes with just close X on it,hers is basically says windows goes blank and or freezes.

Sorry, but that is just part of one sentence and I can not make sense of it.

only resolution is to reboot or sign off AOL and sign back on

If she has to reboot because Windows and/or the computer itself is locked up and she is not able to sign off of AOL, then that could be something more serious/harder to troubleshoot and fix.

Has she scanned for malware?

[Digerati]

I didn't think anyone used AOL anymore! It has turned from one of the world's largest to one of the smallest providers out there.

How does she connect to AOL? By dial-up or broadband (cable/DSL)? Unless there is some compelling reason to be on AOL (besides that's what they been using for the last 15 - 20 years), it is most likely she does not technically need it. If she accesses AOL via cable or DSL, she can go with a regular browser and email program.

With that, I have not even seen AOL in over 5 years but a quick Google search came up with this: Blank screen after signing on using the AOL software.

saw other issues about this problem tried help her with,which were a result of some windows having black spots,with another i know,was resolved by upgrading a chip driver,but did not resolve hers as we tried this upgrade,saw other issues due to Windows 7 and AOL also,but she has Windows Vista,that pertained to blank window boxes with just close X on it,hers is basically says windows goes blank and or freezes.

Sorry, but that is just part of one sentence and I can not make sense of it.

only resolution is to reboot or sign off AOL and sign back on

If she has to reboot because Windows and/or the computer itself is locked up and she is not able to sign off of AOL, then that could be something more serious/harder to troubleshoot and fix.

Has she scanned for malware?

[jds63]

She connects using broadband,she uses AOL for e-mail and still likes to go in chat rooms,knows this is amusing,if you knew her age,but still alot do,lol.I also seen that google research item you found sent it to her,but she is not technically literate and it's hard cause i work with her not from a phone,but threw e-mails or chat on AOL.The other issue i mentioned i had helped another person i knew having a problem,which i googled found a solution for,which they were getting little black boxes on some windows in AOL and what i found on internet was something from AOL was one solution to upgrade an intel processor chip,thru intels site and it worked for this other person,but not her,she tried it,even tho it upgraded her chip,she still has issue.problem was either she gets these blank windows on AOL or AOL freezes up on her,so only solution is to sign off and sign back on or reboot i guess.Not sure if she has scanned for maleware,but i will try tell her,don't think she has any other issues with her computer,with other browsers or using programs on it.I know i saw issues with Windows 7 and AOL in my research for her problem online,but as i said she has Windows Vista.Thanks for any help,know seems confusing,was only tryin to help her out,figured come here to see if i can get any other help for her.

[Ztruker]

Get her to install TeamViewer or CrossLoop then you can connect to her computer remotely to work on it. Saves a lot of headache. I do this with several of my more elderly friends (who also use AOL. It's what they know and change is very hard for them).

[Digerati]

I have use Teamviewer with good success. Never tried CrossLoop but that looks pretty good too.

[Ztruker]

The key is to be able to set it up so the person on the other end doesn't have to do anything as they sometimes get confused, I think this is easy to do with TeamViewer, not sure about CrossLoop.

[Digerati]

Yeah, it is kind of Catch-22 situation. Someone on the distant end has to know enough about the computer and the remote access program to set it up (or be walked through setting it up) on their end, and of course the computer has to be up and running well enough to download and install it too.

[jds63]

o.k. guys not sure,how she will trust me or you guys doin this for her,she seems tho content on her rebooting and sign on and off,to do to get thru her problems,but i will pass it on to her,u know some can be stubborn,i am not sure i can fix it for her,with my knowledge ,even tho i can be pretty knowledgeable with computers,i seeked help here after numerous times looking online for this resolution.I thank you two,see what she says,sure these programs can help me or others i want to help in future.

[happyrock]

I have been using CrossLoop for years...works great on xp but UAC in vista and 7 has caused it to be marginal at best...I still use it with long time clients as they are more willing to put up with the constantly having to relaunch and reconnect CrossLoop...every time UAC rears its ugly head and yes I/we have turned it off but it still causes the disconnects...to bad to...it was a easy way to take over clients systems and just fix it...no need to explain anything...

[wordswort]

An aol engineer visited recently to fix a problem, and when he'd gone I noticed he'd installed 9.7, and deleted 9.6 and 9 from my desktop.

9.7 has a lot of problems : I cannot get windows Media Player to work at all ; nor Yahoo Mail, whose drop down menues flick off before you have a chance to use them.

In the end, I had to re-install 9, which works perfectly with WMP and also Yahoo.

I don't know if re-installing 9 will help you ; but I found it impossible to find on a web search via aol. I had to install google chrome and search for aol 9 there.

AOL seems to have problems with every new 'improvement' they install. If you have the misfotune to have aol as your isp i suggest you keep aol 9 closely guarded - you're going to need it.

[jimtone]

I updated to 9.7 3 weeks back after AOL bombarded me with upgrade requests for 2 weeks daily. Now I can't sign into a couple of forum sites without getting a message saying I should check my spelling of the site. I can get into the site thru Explorer but not AOL? Do you think it may be a bad download or possibly a security setting?

Edited by jimtone, 24 July 2014 - 01:35 PM.

[jds63]

WOW, This post is 2 years old.

 

Sorry i do not have nothing to add for this topic i started.

I was helping a friend at the time.

 

All i can say is i got rid of AOL a long time ago, when i tried to uninstall it, it screwed up my whole PC by somehow removing others files i needed.

Also eats up a lot of resources. See no use for it anymore IMHO.

 

I never went back to it and from my experience of knowing people who used it then, It's a big security risk and AOL is no help at all when contacted.

Friend of mine was hacked a number of times from this service, again AOL did not do much to help them.

 

For me i still have an AOL E-Mail address because i had it for so many years and many other contacts through it, but use a browser to access it only.

 

Be careful if you decide to keep using it.

Edited by jds63, 25 July 2014 - 02:31 PM.